Medical school, stadiums and wars with the north—Len Jessup, formerly the dean of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, has his work cut out for him. After a year-long nationwide search, the Nevada Board of Regents chose Jessup in November as the 10th president in UNLV history. He’s known as a skilled fundraiser, and that talent should come in handy to help pay for his $525,000 base salary—the highest ever for a UNLV president—and several aspirational projects.

UNLV hopes to launch a medical school, which will take an estimated $100 million in local fundraising. The school is also intent on reaching the highest level of rankings for research universities. And don’t forget UNLV is also exploring on-campus stadium options in hopes of ditching Sam Boyd.

The Rebels handed Arizona its first loss of the basketball season soon after Jessup got the nod—we’ll take that as a good omen.